A man carried out back-to-back shootings in Carrollton, Texas, north of Dallas, killing two people and injuring three Tuesday, according to police. The first shooting began just before 10 a.m. at a shopping center in a Koreatown neighborhood, the Carrollton Police Department said.
When officers arrived, they found four adults who had been shot at the shopping center, police said. While investigators were still working that scene, a second shooting was reported at an apartment complex roughly 4 miles (6 kilometers) away, and responding officers found a dead man inside one of the apartments.
Police later identified the suspect as 69-year-old Seung Ho Han and said he carried out both attacks. Carrollton police said they arrested him at a nearby grocery store after a short chase on foot.
In an interview with detectives, police said Ho Han acknowledged he was the shooter. Police also said he told detectives he was angry at the people he shot because of financial disagreements over their business dealings.
Carrollton Police Chief Roberto Arredondo said the violence was not random and that the attacker knew both of the people who were fatally shot. “It was a known business relationship. We’re still trying to work to identify what caused his actions,” Arredondo said.
Arredondo said the three people injured in the shooting were in stable condition. The names of the victims were not released.
Shortly after the shootings, law enforcement officers with guns drawn walked past doors at K Towne Plaza in an area of Carrollton described as Koreatown, and FBI agents were among those collecting evidence in the parking lot, police said. Carrollton is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Dallas and has a population of about 130,000, with more than 4,000 residents of Korean descent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
John Jun, who is active in the Korean American community, said the community was shocked. “We’re not immune to something like this happening, but we are very generally a peaceful community that works hard,” Jun said.
In the past two decades, Carrollton’s Koreatown has grown for the Dallas metro area, anchored by businesses including H Mart and surrounded by restaurants serving Korean food. The city is also home to multiple Korean churches, according to the report.
The AP story also included reporting contributions from Terry Tang in Phoenix, Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and Ed White in Detroit. The report corrected the spelling of the suspect’s name to Seung Ho Han, after an earlier version spelled it differently.